-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It 's called a document dump .

In this case , 175 pages of contractors ' internal updates on the beleaguered HealthCare.gov website were blasted out Wednesday night by Rep. Darryl Issa 's Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee .

You can read it all online . But we read it so you do n't have to , poring through the jargony , technical documents -LRB- `` Pre Prod is now IMP1A '' -RRB- , to give you another option -- the five things you need to know :

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1 . Low-tech options failed too

In the first weeks of the Obamacare sign-up , the two low-tech options for Americans -- the call center and paper applications -- struggled and sometimes froze . An October 8 entry about the number of paper forms turned in at that point simply said `` 500 applications ... but ca n't process any because of log-in and other issues . '' By October 16 , some 3,000 paper applications were in the processing center but only `` 81 have been successfully entered . ''

A tough decision emerged : Should navigators -- those who help people sign up -- recommend that folks leave the slow website and send in a paper form ? Or would that matter ? Contractors wrote they were waiting on the Department of Health and Human Services to decide . By October 15 , contractors were recommending the paper applications , documents show .

Meanwhile , the call center was getting high marks for low wait times and professional operators , but an October 3 note reads : `` 50 % of call center calls have issues . '' The problem was with a technical interface to check people 's identities . Four days later , a more basic issue : `` Our call center reps ca n't see their screens , '' wrote an unnamed consultant .

In response , the Department of Health and Human Services told CNN that these are contractor notes that only depict the state of the website in its first days . `` We have made significant progress , '' said HHS spokeswoman Joanne Peters .

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2 . It 's all about the 834s

In a document full of figures and consultant-speak , one number stands out : 834 . That 's the code for the final step in the HealthCare.gov process , when all the data entered is sent to the insurance company a user has chosen . It sets up the actual insurance policy and hands off responsibility to the company or organization running that plan .

But from the start , that data was not transferring correctly . `` 834 issue - Raised here as well - issuers not receiving 834s that they should be getting , '' a contractor wrote on October 3 . At one point no one could track whether the final 834 data entered by individuals was actually the same as the 834 data going out to insurers .

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3 . A small group of contractors was key

Reading these pages feels almost voyeuristic . It 's a bit like hovering in the back of the main conference room for HealthCare.gov . Problems are listed , tasks to respond to are handed out crisply and clearly .

And from the back of the room , you notice something . Those tasks go to a small core group of top coordinators , representing different companies and pieces of the process . The documents refer to those generally on a first-name basis , but not that many names appear . Two dozen or so people -- Carlos , Abigail , Joy , Beth , Milan , Sandeep , John , Meg at CGI , Devon , Lourdes , Gina and others -- had a lot of work on their plates .

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4 . The initial technical issues were many and massive

On the first day , there was a big problem that we had n't heard about before . `` There was a fix regarding residency for Medicaid and CHIP that was not fixed correctly and is denying ... 90 % of people based on residency , '' the war room notes from the day read .

As the documents move on and issues are tackled one by one , sweeping problems continue to appear .

October 9 : `` A new problem in the system has been identified : for about 30 % of the 70,000 applicants , the system has skipped applicants through ` events ' that are required to complete the application . '' In other words , nearly a third of applicants could n't fill out the form , because the website was skipping `` events '' or entries they needed to make .

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5 . The devil was really in the details

While big-picture problems erupted with HealthCare.gov , hundreds of smaller but still urgent issues were flying from the volcano as well .

A few examples :

• At one point , a software problem hit every application from a married couple . The program recorded each spouse as `` unmarried , '' not just an identity issue but a major data issue for insurers .

• For weeks , programmers fought a problem that initially blocked and later snagged naturalized citizens who needed verification from the Department of Homeland Security .

• Contractors spent almost two weeks sorting out how to handle weight loss surgery and whether insurance companies need to include that in all policies .

• In mid-October , the tool to estimate potential premiums was misreading ages , recording each person as having an age range , rather than a definite age . That was affecting the tool and its results , potentially for almost everyone .

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CNN 's Z. Byron Wolf and Tom Cohen contributed to this story .

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175 pages of internal documents show troubleshooting problems with HealthCare.gov website

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A core group of contractors was tasked to quickly identify and fix problems

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Issues range from problems passing data to insurance companies to confusion over married couples